More Hybrid Mini Album Ideas That Might Be Just Be Puurfect For You

Welcome to The Cherry On Top's, Hybrid Hipsters.

I've got Clever Monkey Graphics back on the stage and our gorgeous and sweet kitty, Pluisje.  (I know, right?!  It would be pronounced..pl-ow-sh-ya) He is by far, THE most photo friendly kitty we've had so.  Our boys just love him to pieces and they often get some great shots of him.  He loves the camera!  What can I say?  Just look at that face.  On a side note, both of my boys have Autism and we experimented with all kinds of pets and found cats, by far the best pets for both of our boys.  If you want to read more about pets and Autism, check out this blog.  It's an oldie, but a goodie.

I'm not that much into the glue and scissors any more.  Especially, now that I've been struck down with arthritis.  Grrrr....But an accordion album, flip book, match book or cornered ring album is put together so quickly and easily, it's totally worth the time which, by the way, can realistically be whipped up in around 30 minutes.

So let me walk you through a few basic and towards the end, I've got several more examples with blog links that lead to other tutorials and ideas for you.  Maybe even a few template freebies, that might be still up and running.

I always design my cards in an 8x11 format for easy printing.  (Don't forget I live in Europe.) Then I turn the image so that I can get more cards on one piece of paper.  This way you can get 6 instead of four and you don't have to work in an awkward position.

If you chose a white background, then all you have to do is duplicate the background and size it to the card shape and size you want.  I kept mine with straight corners this time instead of rounded ones.  It certainly is easier to cut.  You could do an inside layer with a rounded corner because you don't have to cut there unless, you are going to cut and layer traditionally.

So keep shaping and duplicating that background for as many cards and photo spots you want or even for as many extra layers you'll want with that same shape.  I've put a few extra layers or matting on some of my cards.  It's a great way to provide more interest and contrast or even to help balance out colors.

It is also SO much easier to crop in your photos this way rather than trying to resize it just the way you need.  Just use those corners so you don't distort the image or papers.

Use word art, papers and any elements or alpha from your collection.  Working with collections are a huge time saver.  If you have to go through all of your stash to match everything up just right, it could take a long time and the chances of it all coming together perfectly are pretty slim, too.  Collections keep your entire album cohesive throughout.  I totally recommend them.

Once you've layered up your cards just the way you want, check your print settings, choose a paper with some gloss or even sticker paper for the best results, cut and choose your method of binding.  There are SO many choices.  If you see I've missed an obvious format, link a sister up in the comments.  Scroll down to get to the blog with the format you want to use for your album, for the full step by step tutorial.  It may be easier than you think.

Just look how adorable!

I LOVE Tracey's journal cards.  You can do so much with them.

How's this for a selection of kitties?

If you want to take Tracey's goodies for a test drive, get this freebie from her group.

Here are some more accordion ideas for you.  The first one is digital!  Easier on your hands.  That's for sure.  Click on the image to learn more. 

I used our Puurfect kit for this tiny album. It's also very easy to put together.  Click on the image for the full tutorial.

Accordions like this are SO easy to make.  This image is also linked up.

For this project I simply adhered my accordion to a box.  It cleans up very neatly.  Yip!  There's a tutorial for this, too.

I turned an old bbq match box into yet another fun accordion mini and it's stored easily as well.  If you love Graphic 45 and minis, check out the full tutorial.

I'm always looking for other ways to use conventional items.  For this project, I used journal cards as pockets.  A totally different idea for you.  Find out more on that blog by clicking on the image.

I've got one more last example for you and it is SO fun.  I gathered all kinds of crazy pictures and used a fabulous scrap collection.  Yet another full tutorial for you to enjoy.  I hope you get a good laugh from the pictures, too.

If you missed our latest releases, here's a quick look for you.  Feel free to scroll back to other blogs to see more. 

The Bee My Valentine Collection is still just $5.  That's for the kit AND a pack of templates.

Then there's the What's Cook'n Bundle.  It too is only $5 for a kit and templates and quite the hot seller at the moment.  Thanks if you were a part of that.

And here is the re release of Revel In Ribbons from yesterday.  It's only $2 throughout the weekend.

Don't forget $2 Tuesdays!  See what you may have missed?!

Thanks so much for hanging with The Cherries.  We love when you do that.

If you are looking for something specific, needing help with scrap related issues or just want to hang with us, then join us in the group.  Show us your latest picture you want to scrap or your new puppy.  We'd love to see what you are up to.

Happy scrapping!

Easy Hybrid Accordion Album with Tutorial

Welcome to The Cherry on Top's Hybrid Saturday.

Two weeks ago we made this cute spring card for mom and today we are looking at the insert, accordion album and pocket.  When you keep reading, you'll find an  in-depth tutorial, with tips, tricks and techniques to make scrapping easier, faster and prettier.  You'll also get a look at some recent hybrid projects as well as traditional ones and we are giving you a peek at a future hybrid freebie for the kids.

Here's the card I designed with 3D elements using Paty Greif Digital Design's new Spring In My Garden Collection.  This  collection is proving to be quite a success.  It's getting Pinned like crazy.  If you want to take a look at the tutorial and the card, click on the photo below.

You can also see today's project, accordion mini.  Keep scrolling to get a look at the tutorial.  It's made very quickly, easily and with few materials.

I designed a simple template and deleted it.  Ugh!  I have the new PSE and apparently the saving system is completely different.  So it turns out I lost quite a lot of tif and psd formats with all of those lovely layers.

Anyway...Hehehehe...  All you have to do to make this a hybrid project is plug in your photos, background papers and elements into a template which is just composed of these three squares.  Do it twice, print and adhere each strip to a sturdy piece of coordinating card stock. Fold it in three and you're set!

Here is the other side.

I wanted to make a pocket for the inside of the card so I could put this mini in there.

Pockets are a breeze to make.  Measure up the size pocket you need, place your adhesive in the right spots and that's it.

For a more decorative look, I'm framing up a sweet sentiment using this chipboard frame.  You could paint the frame or paper it like I did with some more coordinating scrap.  Actually, all of what you see today is from scrap paper.

Trace around your shape, cut, punch holes and adhere to the chipboard.  It doesn't take long at all.  If you paint, you have to wait for it to dry.

These were the tools I used.  The exacto is great for cutting out that rectangle in the centre.

This glue is my all time favourite for scrap projects. It has two ends.  One for fine gluing and the bottom for large surfaces.

I used brads and lined them up so the back does not show.  You can always cut off extra or you could adhere your frame right to the pocket with the brads, but I don't want my mini getting caught on the brads inside the pocket.

I rarely use rub ons because they seem to go to crap before I can even use them.

These from the Rusty Pickle were still in great shape and the sentiments are really useful.  I love using the packaging for my projects, don't you?  I used the backing from the rub ons to place my sentiment.

The words popped much better on the white paper than when backed on the pink.

Place the frame over the sentiment.

Adhere the pocket to the inside of the card and that's it!  So easy!

Clicker here for the free template in tif, psd and jpg.

Here's a look at our last traditional scrap project with Graphic 45's Bohemian Bazaar.

This was last week's hybrid.  A fun, really easy air ballon with all free templates and in depth tutorial.  It's so fast and easy even the kids can do it!

Yesterday, was my oldest son's birthday and we got him a mega, crazy huge Nurf gun.  I designed these fun targets for him in hopes of him going for these rather than the pets and his brother!  Hehehe...I'll have them up on the blog for Throw Back Thursday.

Thank you so much for giving The Cherry your precious time!